By Suzan Mususumeli Ramudzuli
South Africa has made undeniable progress in expanding access to higher education. Through coordinated efforts by government, corporates, and civil society, more students from historically marginalised communities are entering university than ever before. This signals a growing commitment to equity yet access alone does not equate to success.
While enrolment has increased, graduation rates remain low. Only 29.9% of students who entered university in 2016 completed their qualifications within the minimum regulation time of three years (DHET, 2021). Extended cohort tracking further reveals systemic constraints: just 60.9% of the 2009 intake had graduated after ten years.
These statistics reflect a persistent gap between access and completion and point to the need for differentiated, system-level support that responds to both institutional inequality and student diversity. Moreover, dropout and throughput rates vary significantly between historically white and historically Black institutions – a critical dimension that remains underexplored in national discourse.
Systemic Fractals
At Tshikululu Social Investments, we support hundreds of students each year through education-focused social investment portfolios. Our work across diverse institutional contexts confirms what the data reflects: funding is necessary, but not sufficient. Many students, despite strong academic potential, struggle with non-academic barriers that the system is not designed to address.
A two-year study commissioned by Universities South Africa reinforces this reality. Wahl (2023) found that many students experience university spaces as fragmented, unwelcoming, and culturally misaligned. They often feel unsupported and excluded from the very environments intended to foster their success.
The student journey is shaped by multiple, overlapping contexts – academic, interpersonal, institutional, and societal – yet support structures remain fragmented and reactive, failing to meet students at their most critical points of need.
Making the Invisible Visible: Bourdieu’s Lens on Institutional Inequality
To fully understand persistent inequality in student outcomes, we must appraise the structural design of higher education itself through a more encompassing lens. Once we view it through a more systemic lens which allows us to identify the fractal interplay between forms of cultural and social capital, we see that institutional cultures tend to reward those already equipped with the cultural, linguistic, and social capital the system implicitly values.
In this sense we see that Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus offer a useful framework:
- The university is a field governed by implicit rules and norms that shape pathways to success.
- Because of South Africa’s historical systemic exclusion Capital, such as academic language, bureaucratic fluency, and support networks, is unequally distributed
- Habitus, shaped by upbringing and community, determines how students interpret and respond to institutional expectations.
Students whose backgrounds do not reflect dominant institutional norms must not only perform academically but also adapt continuously to navigate spaces not designed with them in mind.
These dynamics play out differently across institutions. Historically white universities often maintain Eurocentric academic cultures, where fluency in dominant norms is subtly rewarded. Students who do not mirror these norms may face exclusion, even when academically capable. Conversely, historically Black institutions, while more reflective of the broader population, are affected by chronic underfunding, larger class sizes, and fewer support services. Infrastructural constraints pose real barriers to consistent engagement.
Across both types of institutions, gendered inequalities compound exclusion. Research shows that Black women in South African universities face layered challenges ranging from uncodified patriarchal norms and safety concerns to disproportionate caregiving burdens and limited access to institutional networks (Maphosa & Shumba, 2010; Tukhane, 2021). These dynamics shape who is seen, heard, and supported in academic spaces.
Toward Inclusive Student Success: A Sectoral Shift
The social investment sector plays a pivotal role in transforming higher education from a system of access to one of inclusive success. This calls for a shift from reactive, individualised support to a relational, inclusive approach that:
- Expands the definition of “at-risk” to include cultural, emotional, and systemic factors alongside academic performance
- Fosters intentional collaboration between academic and support functions, breaking down institutional silos
- Embeds identity and belonging in institutional design, recognising that student confidence develops through affirmation and support
- Applies holistic performance indicators that reflect participation, personal agency, and developmental growth, beyond grades and completion rates
Inclusion takes root when institutions acknowledge the diverse ways students engage with and experience higher education. Thriving becomes possible when environments are intentionally designed to affirm, equip, and empower every student, across all backgrounds and circumstances.
Our Role as Catalysts for Structural Change
At Tshikululu, we see our role as both funders and systemic partners. We not only invest in individual student success but also work with institutions to strengthen the environments that shape those outcomes.
Our approach includes:
- Partnering with institutions to embed inclusive design principles into academic and support systems
- Designing funding models that account for both academic and non-academic barriers
- Elevating student voices to co-create support systems that reflect lived realities
- Measuring success through expanded metrics: resilience, belonging, graduation, and long-term mobility
We believe that student success must be enabled structurally, not left to chance or resilience alone. South Africa’s higher education sector must prioritise student success as a systemic imperative. Institutions must be structured to meet the diverse realities of students across race, gender, class, language, and ability through systems that are inclusive and aligned with student needs.
Success becomes standard when universities are designed to foster belonging, support, and achievement for all. For social investors, this means investing in a thriving sector that recognises and develops each student’s full potential. This is how we move beyond access and toward success that is inclusive, systemic, and lasting.